Colorado Regulatory Program

Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 14 (Thursday, January 22, 2015)

Federal Register Volume 80, Number 14 (Thursday, January 22, 2015)

Proposed Rules

Pages 3190-3191

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office www.gpo.gov

FR Doc No: 2015-00932

Page 3190

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 906

SATS No. CO-040-FOR, Docket ID: OSM-2011-0002; S1D1SSS08011000SX066A00067F144S180110; S2D2SSS08011000SX066A00033F14XS501520

Colorado Regulatory Program

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of public comment period on proposed amendment.

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SUMMARY: We are announcing the receipt of revisions pertaining to a previously proposed amendment to the Colorado regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``Colorado program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (``SMCRA'' or ``the Act''). Colorado proposes additions of rules and revisions to Rules of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining, 2 CCR 407-2, concerning the protection and replacement of the hydrologic balance, subsidence, valid existing rights determinations, roads, requirements associated with annual reclamation reports, prime farmland determinations, various definitions, permit revisions, performance bonds, backfill placement methods and requirements, backfilling and grading, and revegetation. Colorado intends to revise its program to improve operational efficiency.

This document gives the times and locations that the Colorado program and proposed amendment to that program are available for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written comments on the amendment, and the procedures that we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published on December 6, 2011 (76 FR 76109), is re-opened. We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4:00 p.m., mountain standard time (m.s.t.) February 23, 2015. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the amendment on February 17, 2015. We will accept requests to speak until 4:00 p.m., m.s.t., on February 6, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``CO-040-FOR'' or Docket ID number OSM-2011-0002, by either of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. The proposed rule has been assigned Docket ID OSM-2011-0002. If you would like to submit comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal, go to www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions.

Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Jeffrey Fleischman, Director, Casper Area Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Dick Cheney Federal Building, POB 11018, 150 East B Street, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1018.

For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the ``III. Public Comment Procedures'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

In addition to viewing the docket and obtaining copies of documents at www.regulations.gov, you may review copies of the Colorado program, this amendment, a listing of any scheduled public hearings, and all written comments received in response to this document, may be obtained at the addresses listed below during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. You may also receive one free copy of the amendment by contacting OSMRE's Casper Area Office.

Jeffrey Fleischman, Director, Casper Area Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Dick Cheney Federal Building, POB 11018, 150 East B Street, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1018, (307) 261-6547, Email: jfleischman@osmre.gov.

David Berry, Director, Office of Mined Land Reclamation, Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety, Department of Natural Resources, 1313 Sherman Street, Suite 215, Denver, CO 80203, Email: David.Berry@state.co.us.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan Boehms, Telephone: (303) 293-

5012. Email: aboehms@osmre.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background on the Colorado Program

2. Description of the Proposed Amendment

3. Public Comment Procedures

4. Procedural Determinations

1. Background on the Colorado Program

   Section 503(a) of the Act permits a State to assume primacy for the regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations on non-

   Federal and non-Indian lands within its borders by demonstrating that its State program includes, among other things, ``a State law which provides for the regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations in accordance with the requirements of this Act . . .; and rules and regulations consistent with regulations issued by the Secretary pursuant to this Act.'' See 30 U.S.C. 1253(a)(1) and (7). On the basis of these criteria, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally approved the Colorado program on December 15, 1980. You can find background information on the Colorado program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval of the Colorado program in the December 15, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 82173). You can also find later actions concerning Colorado's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 906.10, 906.15, 906.16, and 906.30.

2. Description of the Proposed Amendment

   By letter dated April 8, 2011, Colorado sent us a proposed amendment to its approved regulatory program (Administrative Record Docket ID No. OSM-2011-0002) under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). Colorado submitted the amendment to address all required rule changes OSMRE identified by letters to Colorado dated April 4, 2008, and October 2, 2009, under 30 CFR 732.17(c). These included changes to Colorado's rules for valid existing rights and ownership and control. The amendment also includes changes made at Colorado's own initiative. The full text of the program amendment is available for you to read at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES.

   Specifically, Colorado proposes substantive revisions to the Colorado Code of Regulations at 2 CCR 407-2 Rules 1.07 (Procedures for Valid Existing Rights Determinations), 2.01 (General Requirements for Permits), 2.02 (General Requirements for Coal Exploration), 2.03 (Application for Permit for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations: Minimum Requirements for Legal, Financial, Compliance, and Related Information), 2.04 (Application for Permit for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations: Minimum Requirements for Information on Environmental Resources), 2.05 (Application for Permit for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations: Minimum Requirements for Operation and Reclamation Plans), 2.07 (Public Participation and Approval of Permit Applications), 2.08 (Permit Review, Revisions and Renewals and Transfer, Sale and Assignment), 2.11 (Challenging Ownership or Control Listings and Findings), 4.03 (Roads), 4.05 (Hydrologic Balance), 4.06 (Topsoil), 4.07 (Sealing of Drilled Holes and Underground Openings), 4.08 (Use of Explosives), 4.14 (Backfilling and Grading), 4.15 (Revegetation), 4.16 (Postmining Land Use), 4.20

   Page 3191

   (Subsidence Control), 4.25 (Operations on Prime Farmland), 5.03 (Enforcement), and 5.06 (Alternative Enforcement). Additionally, Colorado proposes revisions to and additions of definitions supporting these proposed rule changes.

   As a result of comments received for the Federal Register Proposed Rule notice published December 6, 2011, which announced receipt of the amendment and solicited comments (76 FR 76109), we identified concerns with regard to Colorado's Statement of Basis, Purpose, and Specific Statutory Authority (SBPSA) document that is incorporated with 2 CCR 407-2 by reference. We notified Colorado of our concerns by letter dated September 19, 2011 (Administrative Record No. OSM-2011-0002-

   0008). Colorado responded in a letter dated September 22, 2011, by submitting a revised amendment proposal (Administrative Record No. OSM-

   2011-0002-0009). During our review of that revised amendment, OSMRE found additional deficiencies and notified Colorado of these deficiencies in a concern letter dated May 20, 2013 (Administrative Record No. OSM-2011-0002-0012). In response to our concerns, Colorado resubmitted the amendment formally on October 1, 2014 (Administrative Record Numbers OSM-2011-0002-0013 (Cover Letter), OSM-2011-0002-0014 (Proposed Revisions), and OSM-2011-0002-0015 (SOBAP)). Colorado proposes additional language to clarify proposed Rules that were initially deemed unapprovable by OSMRE.

3. Public Comment Procedures

   Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are seeking your comments on whether the amendment satisfies the applicable program approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If we approve the amendment, it will become part of the Colorado program.

   Electronic or Written Comments

   If you submit written comments, they should be specific, confined to issues pertinent to the proposed regulations, and explain the reason for any recommended change(s). We appreciate any and all comments, but those most useful and likely to influence decisions on the final regulations will be those that either involve personal experience or include citations to and analyses of SMCRA, its legislative history, its implementing regulations, case law, other pertinent State or Federal laws or regulations, technical literature, or other relevant publications.

   We cannot ensure that comments received after the close of the comment period (see DATES) or sent to an address other than those listed above (see ADDRESSES) will be included in the docket for this rulemaking and considered.

   Public Availability of Comments

   Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

   Public Hearing

   If you wish to speak at the public hearing, contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., m.s.t. on February 6, 2015. If you are disabled and need reasonable accommodations to attend a public hearing, contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. We will arrange the location and time of the hearing with those persons requesting the hearing. If no one requests an opportunity to speak, we will not hold the hearing.

   To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, we request, if possible, that each person who speaks at a public hearing provide us with a written copy of his or her comments. The public hearing will continue on the specified date until everyone scheduled to speak has been given an opportunity to be heard. If you are in the audience and have not been scheduled to speak and wish to do so, you will be allowed to speak after those who have been scheduled. We will end the hearing after everyone scheduled to speak and others present in the audience who wish to speak, have been heard.

   Public Meeting

   If only one person requests an opportunity to speak, we may hold a public meeting rather than a public hearing. If you wish to meet with us to discuss the amendment, please request a meeting by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All such meetings are open to the public; if possible, we will post notices of meetings at the locations listed under ADDRESSES. We will make a written summary of each meeting a part of the administrative record.

4. Procedural Determinations

   Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review

   This rule is exempted from review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review).

   Other Laws and Executive Orders Affecting Rulemaking

   When a State submits a program amendment to OSMRE for review, our regulations at 30 CFR 732.17(h) require us to publish a notice in the Federal Register indicating receipt of the proposed amendment, its text or a summary of its terms, and an opportunity for public comment. We conclude our review of the proposed amendment after the close of the public comment period and determine whether the amendment should be approved, approved in part, or not approved. At that time, we will also make the determinations and certifications required by the various laws and executive orders governing the rulemaking process and include them in the final rule.

   List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 906

   Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

   Dated: November 4, 2014.

   Ervin J. Barchenger,

   Acting Regional Director, Western Region.

   FR Doc. 2015-00932 Filed 1-21-15; 8:45 am

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